Dr. Brendan "Mac" McGuire, portrayed by Christopher Timothy, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made his final appearance on 26 May 2006.[2] Mac is twice-married, first to Julia Parsons (Diane Keen) in 1968, to whom he had three children, sons Patrick (Alan McKenna) and Liam (Tim Matthews), and daughter Samantha. This marriage breaks down after Mac has an affair with a drugs sales rep, who returns in 2000 and ends up having a business meeting/lunch with Mac. In the early ‘90s, Mac marries Kate (Maggie Cronin), with whom he has one son, Ciaran (Tomas Hughes), in 2001, whose traumatic birth led to Mac becoming an alcoholic. This marriage lasted just over 10 years when, in 2002, Kate has an affair with a priest, Father David. Kate leaves Mac, taking Ciaran with her, which results in Mac having a heart attack. The near-death experience leads to ex-wife Julia coming back into his life, and the two resume their relationship. Mac then remarries Julia in 2003, shortly after the deaths of Father David, and Riverside’s ex-receptionist, Carolina Shaw. Mac becomes friends with Dr Peter Kendrick (Robert Cavanah), however Peter became depressed and soon committed suicide. On 26 May 2006, Mac leaves Letherbridge, moving to Ireland, after Julia orders him and Kate to leave when she discovers he had an affair with Kate, and they divorce the following year.[2] On 3 September 2024, Mac appears at The Mill Health Centre with apparent signs of dementia.
In the press release for Doctors in March 2000, Timothy was said to be "thrilled" to be on the show, adding: "On set there's an amazing sense of drama and commitment from everyone around. People really want it to be a success".[3] Described as an "old-fashioned and highly-respected physician who isn't afraid to speak his mind", Timothy added that Brendan (known to his colleagues as "Mac"), is "James Herriot grown older".[3] In an interview with Sussex Life, Timothy stated of his time on Doctors that he loved "the dramatic standards achieved by the fast-paced series, despite the kind of squeeze on time and resources unheard of" adding, "The budget was a joke and the pressure more intense than anything I’d ever experienced. But it was six years of great fun and I got to direct, which I loved".[4] When asked if he had picked up any medical knowledge from the role he said, "No, not really. I spent a week with a real vet in Yorkshire and a day with a real GP in his surgery but I didn’t really watch procedures. The actual procedures – how to take blood pressure and that sort of thing – I picked up as I went along".[5] He added that; "Working in something like Doctors you learn your lines, you say the scene and then forget them because you then have to remember another scene, and another scene".[5] Head of Drama Mal Young said Timothy sat in a consultation room for a day, adding that people were "very good and mostly unfazed by the sight of an actor listening, they were very understanding, especially one woman who came in to talk about hormone replacement therapy!".[3]
TV Choice's Nick Fiaca commented that Julia had a "torrid time" with Mac.[6] In 2010, producer Peter Eryl Lloyd was asked by Digital Spy if Mac was to return, in which he replied, "I don't know why we'd do that unless there was a very good reason. The show has moved on since Chris was with us so I don't think anyone would want the character back just out of nostalgia. But if it's motivated, if it has an impact on our characters and makes sense dramatically, then never say never".[7]The British Theatre Guide, said Mac was "very successful".[5]
Dr. Steve Rawlings, portrayed by Mark Frost, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made his final appearance on 1 June 2001. In the press release for Doctors, it was revealed that actor Frost would be playing Steve.[3] A few episodes into the series, it is revealed that Steve is having an affair with nurse Anoushka Flynn (Carli Norris). Whilst they are kissing in a cupboard at Riverside, Steve's wife, Bev, is mugged and killed. He is informed by Mac McGuire (Christopher Timothy), who tried to revive Bev, and Steve immediately blames himself for being with Anoushka instead. He initially struggles with his grief by taking it out on patients, such as telling suicidal patient Lenny Shapiro (Robert Schofield) to "get a grip".
Frost played Steve for 18 months, with Steve being called a "hard man" and a "baddie". Birmingham Post's Caroline Foulke said that Frost played "blokes that are naughty and shady" and that Steve would make "Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) look like pussycats".[10]
Dr. Helen Thompson, portrayed by Corrinne Wicks, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made her final appearance on 16 December 2005.[11] Before the series began, Helen married Phil (Mark Adams), with whom she had two children; son Dan (Joshua Prime) and daughter Claire (Tara Coleman-Starr). At the start of the series, Helen seems to have it all: a successful career, two children and a doting, stay-at-home husband. But, Helen begins to get bored with married life and, after fighting temptation for a while, has an affair with Steve Rawling’s brother, Chris, which nearly costs her her marriage. Phil throws Helen out, and she moves in Chris. Eventually, Helen and Phil reconcile. However, their happiness is short-lived. In 2002, Helen becomes a widow when Phil is killed in a car crash. However, at the time of the crash, she is in bed with colleague Marc Eliot (Tom Butcher). She is riddled with guilt until she discovers that Phil was also guilty, hiding the fact he had a second family. Helen eventually returns to work, but Marc persuades her to leave Riverside and set up a new practice with him, much to Mac’s fury. Helen and Marc set up Best Practice together, employing Helen’s university friend, George Woodson, and Kate, after her marriage to Mac breaks down. After a while, Marc and Helen start a relationship. Over time, Helen grows to dislike Marc and claims she is not in love with him anymore and Marc leaves to build orphanages in Kosovo. In 2004, Helen falls in love with Dr. Jack Ford (Steven Hartley) and he proposes to her, with Helen agreeing. However, Jack is murdered by his former wife Ria (Mandana Jones), devastating Helen. The next year, Marc returns with a new fiancé, Bella Forest (Sharon Maharaj). However, Marc and Helen realise that they still have feelings for each other, so the pair leave Letherbridge together.[11]
Helen's character profile on the BBC website described her as an "extremely capable doctor and well-liked by her patients and colleagues", but "despite being strong and confident, she sometimes found it hard to show her feelings".[11] In November 2005, Digital Spy's Kris Green reported that Wicks would be departing from Doctors alongside Tom Butcher.[12] Green commented that Helen has "been the unluckiest person in love for the last five years" and was glad that she was "finally" getting a "Prince Charming".[12] Her final episode was an hour-long special.[12] In real life, Wicks is married to Butcher,[13] with Green commenting on this saying, "Interestingly, for Corrinne and Tom, it’s life imitating art as they are, in fact, a couple in ‘real world’ – I do sometimes find it hard to distinguish between the two...".[12]Andrea Green who played Sarah Finch opined that her most memorable scene was "the very final scene of Doctors shot at Pebble Mill – it was with my friend Wicks", commenting that it was "weird".[12]
Rana Mistry
Dr. Rana Mistry, portrayed by Akbar Kurtha, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made his final appearance 1 June 2001. Rana is a newly qualified general practitioner upon his introduction, having been practising for just under two years. His professionalism is questioned by colleague Helen Thompson (Corrinne Wicks) after he arrives late to various shifts, which put lives into risk. She implores him to do better at his job. Rana's ability is soon questioned again by Mac McGuire (Christopher Timothy) after Rana does not notice a tumour inside Des Madeley's (Gareth Hale) brain. He feels awful but is soon liberated by Helen, who discovers that the tumour could not have been found in a GP check-up.
Dr. Caroline Powers, portrayed by Jacqueline Leonard, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made her final appearance on 1 June 2001. An experienced doctor, Caroline is involved in many cases, such as when Noel Kenworth (Anthony Edridge) has a vasectomy, however his wife, Karen (Karen Henthorn), still wants children. In May 2001, Caroline's mother, Jane(Stefanie Powers) arrives from America, with her soon-to-be husband David Wilde (Darren Day) arriving shortly after. Caroline starts to have feelings for David and the two have sex. On Jane and David's wedding day, Caroline runs away with David.
In a press release for the announcement of Doctors, it was stated that Leonard, known for her role in EastEnders playing Lorraine Wicks, was cast in the role of Caroline.[3] Leonard had taken a year off from acting, after previously caring for her sick mother,[3] however Leonard started to worry that as she was "missing out on bigger roles, and she grew concerned that casting directors only saw her as Lorraine".[15] She said, "The right job never seemed to come up, I went up for things like Coronation Street and always got down to the last few, but never quite got it, almost like my profile was too high", she finished in saying, "Doctors came along at exactly the right time", stating she felt "lucky" and that she is "the happiest I've been in a long time".[15] She added, "There's a lot of humour on the set of Doctors, we're a good melting pot of people from all over, which reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the series".[15] The BBC described her character as "demanding", Daily Mirror describes her as "hard-drinking" and "hard-talking",[16] and Leonard said she is a "dark horse who is giving out a lot of signals, right from the very beginning".[3]
Kate McGuire, portrayed by Maggie Cronin, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made her final appearance on 26 May 2006.[17]
Kate is the wife of Mac McGuire (Christopher Timothy) and set up Riverside with him. At first, their marriage is successful, both personally and professionally. However, Kate longs for a child of her own, unlike Mac, who already has three adult children from his first marriage. Eventually, Mac agrees to the idea and Kate becomes pregnant. However, tragedy strikes, as Kate suffers a miscarriage early into her pregnancy. The two support each other, and Kate falls pregnant again. The pregnancy is straightforward, until Kate falls down the stairs and goes into labour. The birth is traumatic, but eventually their son, Ciaran (Tomas Hughes), is born. Because of the trauma leading up to his birth, and the complications that arose during labour, Kate is forced to stay in hospital. Mac, feeling shut out and struggling to deal with his feelings, hits the bottle. Kate and Ciaran move out, while Mac tries to control his drinking, then eventually returns home. However, a few months later, Kate’s head is turned by the arrival of Father David Quinn (Richard Standing). The two have an affair, and Kate decides to leave Mac. On the day that Kate and David decide to tell Mac about their affair, they are too late, as Father Tom discovers the affair and tells Mac first. This leads to Mac’s heart attack, and his first wife Julia re-entering his life. Kate and David find their new lives hard at first, struggling to find work, until Helen and Marc employ Kate as the new receptionist at Best Practice. As life settles down, David proposes to Kate, just before he sets off to take Riverside receptionist, Carolina, and her young daughter, Vicky, to their new life in Lincoln. Kate doesn’t give David an answer straight away, and decides to wait until he is home. Sadly, David, and Carolina are involved in a traffic accident, and they both die in hospital from their injuries, leaving Kate distraught. Kate leaves the church. Ciaran is later kidnapped, however when he is returned, she regains her belief in the church. After a two-month gap, Kate returns to Best Practice as the new receptionist. Mac remarries his ex-wife, Julia Parsons (Diane Keen), as she becomes the practice manager at the surgery. Kate and Julia become enemies as Kate still harbours feelings for Mac, which Julia knows about, but the pair soon become friends.[17] Kate meets Dr Mike Miles (Michael J. Jackson) and moves to Ireland with him. Whilst in Ireland, Mac visits Ciaran and has an affair with her whilst there. Julia finds out, ordering them to leave the surgery, and both Kate and Mac leave to Ireland.[17]
Anoushka Flynn, portrayed by Carli Norris,[3] first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made her final appearance on 19 May 2000. Anoushka is a nurse at Riverside Medical Practice. On her BBC profile, Anoushka is described as pushy and provocative. Her simultaneous flings with colleagues Steve Rawlings (Mark Frost) and Rana Mistry (Akbar Kurtha) are noted in the profile. Whilst kissing Steve in a cupboard, his wife is mugged and killed. He blames himself and Anoushka for not being there at the time of her death. Anoushka soon tires of him treating her badly and implores others at Riverside to stop sympathising with him since his marriage with Bev was lacklustre.
Anoushka's casual sex leads to her getting pregnant. Since she does not know who the father is, Anoushka resigns from her job and begins a new life elsewhere in order to care for her baby. This was due to not wanting to suffer "inevitable blame and investigations".[14] After making her final appearance on 19 May 2000, Anoushka became the first original character to leave Doctors.[14]
Ruth Harding
Ruth Harding, portrayed by Yvonne Brewster, first appeared on 26 March 2000[18] and made her last appearance on 30 April 2001. Ruth is a nurse at Riverside Medical Centre who is shown to be caring but takes no nonsense from patients. When the team decide to participate in a lottery syndicate, Ruth agrees to buy the ticket. The numbers match and they win, but nobody pays her for their part in the ticket, so she claims the money and leaves Letherbridge.
Joanna Helm, portrayed by Sarah Manners, first appeared on 26 March 2000 and made her final appearance on 30 May 2001. Joanna is a receptionist at the surgery, the first that the surgery had.[19] Joanna was described as "troubled" and "dippy".[19] Manners also opined that Joanna caused "mischief".[19]Wales Online described Joanna as "bubbly".[20] According to Daily Mirror, Manners "won herself an army of male fans" as Joanna, as she was "flirty".[21]Sunday Mail described her storylines, in which they wrote: "she was involved in mercy killing, drug addiction and a suicide attempt to name but a few of her spicier plotlines".[19][22] Manners said of this, "I got the best storylines in the world in Doctors, my nan died of a brain tumour then it came out I killed her. I went mad and was addicted to anti-depressants, forged signatures and tried to kill myself".[19]
Patrick McGuire, portrayed by Alan McKenna, first appeared on 16 November 2000 and made his last appearance on 16 March 2012.
Patrick, Mac McGuire's (Christopher Timothy) and Julia Parsons (Diane Keen) son, visits Mac in 2000. In 2003, he returns with his wife Sally (Zoë Tyler) and his sister Sam (Louise Howells). He stays for his father and mothers wedding before leaving. During the time that Patrick is absent, Julia and Mac split, and Mac moves to Ireland. Patrick returns in June 2010, when he becomes concerned about his mother's health when she starts to act differently, with Julia thinking that Charlie Bradfield (Philip McGough) is Mac. He continues to look after Julia, after she is diagnosed with lyme disease.
Two months later he returns, with daughter Chloe (Siena Pugsley), taking Chloe to Julia's house. Patrick and Sally (now played by Jo-Anne Stockham), stay with Julia; experiencing problems with their marriage, which Julia notices. Julia discovers he is having an affair, after he is involved in a car crash, finding out that he was with a woman named Sian in the car. Although Patrick is unharmed, he tries to defend himself towards Julia, begging Julia not to tell Sally. She agrees as long as it never happens again.[23] Patrick commits to his relationship with Sally, and along with her and Chloe, they leave.
However, after Julia comes back from holiday, she finds her house unlocked, with bottles and clothes littering her house. She figures out he is back with Sian, and orders him to explain.[24] when Sally finds out about Patrick' affair, and that Julia knew about it, she takes Chloe and Patrick goes AWOL.[25] Julia forces Sally and Patrick to sort out their differences, after it is affecting Chloe's behaviour, after they do, the three leave together. He appears once more when Julia is hospitalised after a car crash, and after she recovers, he leaves.
In a poll conducted by Digital Spy, the five main soaps in the UK, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Doctors storylines were judged by viewers of the website, with the Doctors storyline of Julia finding out about Patrick being involved in a car crash, coming last with 0.9% of the vote.[26] Again, in a poll conducted by Digital Spy, the Doctors storyline of Julia finding out about Patrick having another affair, coming last with 0.8% of the vote.[25] Finally, the Doctors storyline of Julia hiding the secret of Patrick's affair from Patrick came last with 1.1% of the vote.[27]
A joiner who is hired by the Riverside Health Centre to work on the building. Scott and Joanna Helm (Sarah Manners) had a relationship whilst in school and restart their relationship after spending the day together. However, after Joanna finds him cheating on her with a client, she dumps him.
Helen Thompson's (Wicks) sister who asks her to see to husband Richard (Cameron Stewart) due to him staying in bed for several days. Helen uncovers that Richard left a young girl in a hit and run and Louise pleads with her not to inform the police.
Richard
Cameron Stewart
Helen Thompson's (Wicks) brother-in-law who feels guilt after hitting a young girl with his car and leaving her.
A 15-year-old who becomes suicidal after her mother forces her boyfriend to dump her. Rana Mistry (Akbar Kurtha) finds her set to jump from a building and he talks her down.
Dan Thompson
15 May 2000– 14 October 2005
Joshua Prime
Helen's (Corrinne Wicks) son. Unable to get childcare at short notice, she brings him into Riverside after the surgery is vandalised and she is needed to help clean. He causes trouble by annoying the staff and drawing on the walls.
Steve's (Mark Frost) brother. A chef, he sets up a restaurant and invites Helen Thompson (Wicks), since the pair share an attraction to each other. She invites the rest of her Riverside colleagues, not wanting to cheat on her husband, Phil (Mark Adams).
Phil Thompson
6 October 2000– 24 April 2002
Mark Adams
Helen's (Wicks) husband with whom she shares a rocky marriage with.
Joanna's (Manners) grandmother. She has a consultation with Steve Rawlings (Frost), who tells her that she is dying and ways that she can prevent her death. However, she tells him that she will die when her time is up. She does not tell Joanna and instead lies by claiming she just has the flu. Joanna sneaks a look at her medical notes and is devastated to learn that she is dying.
Caroline Powers' (Jacqueline Leonard) ex-husband. He arrives at her house after having his wallet stolen and works on reconciling their marriage, but Caroline refuses due to his abuse of her in the past. He overhears Caroline talking to co-worker Rana Mistry (Kurtha) and assumes they are dating. He gets angry at Caroline and tries to force her into reconciling with him. She refuses and recounts when she had their baby aborted, which he did not know about, and Eddie then leaves.
Jack Helm
22 November 2000– 14 November 2003
Jim Dunk
The father of Joanna Helm (Manners). After a long-standing feud between him and his mother, Jessie (Marcia Ashton), Joanna reunites them before Jessie's death.
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Doctors is a British medical soap opera, first broadcast on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Filmed in Birmingham and set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff of both an NHS doctor's surgery and a university campus surgery, as well as the lives of their families and friends. Initially, only 41 episodes of the programme were ordered, but due to the positive reception, the BBC ordered it as a continuing soap opera. Doctors was filmed at the Pebble Mill Studios until 2004; production then relocated to the BBC Drama Village, where it filmed until 2024. Episodes are filmed three months prior to transmission. The soap is typically broadcast on weekdays at 1:45 pm on BBC One, as well as having classic episodes broadcast on Drama. It takes three annual transmission breaks across the year: at Easter, during the summer and at Christmas.
Julia Parsons is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Diane Keen. She was introduced as the ex-wife of Mac McGuire who begins working as a receptionist at the Riverside Health Centre alongside him. She met with Doctors producers in September 2002 where she was offered the role of Julia for a three-month stint. She made her onscreen debut on 13 January 2003 and her storylines throughout her tenure see Julia get remarried to Mac, become the practice manager of the surgery and expanding their endeavours, getting accused of blowing up their surgery, a second divorce from Mac and meeting a new love interest in Martin Millar.
Joanna Helm is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Sarah Manners. Joanna was introduced by series creator Mal Young as one of the original nine regular characters on the soap. She works as a receptionist at the fictional Riverside Medical Centre and is shown to be a bubbly, flirtatious and ditzy character. Joanna appears from the first episode until the end of the second series after deciding to leave the series. Her exit storyline sees her leave Riverside after helping her grandmother, Jessie Helm, die in a euthanasia pact.
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